Large-scale cryovolcanic resurfacing on Pluto

Abstract

The New Horizons spacecraft returned images and compositional data showing that terrains on Pluto span a variety of ages, ranging from relatively ancient, heavily cratered areas to very young surfaces with few-to-no impact craters. One of the regions with very few impact craters is dominated by enormous rises with hummocky flanks. Similar features do not exist anywhere else in the imaged solar system. Here we analyze the geomorphology and composition of the features and conclude this region was resurfaced by cryovolcanic processes, of a type and scale so far unique to Pluto. Creation of this terrain requires multiple eruption sites and a large volume of material (>104 km^3) to form what we propose are multiple, several-km-high domes, some of which merge to form more complex planforms. The existence of these massive features suggests Pluto's interior structure and evolution allows for either enhanced retention of heat or more heat overall than was anticipated before New Horizons, which permitted mobilization of water-ice-rich materials late in Pluto's history.

22 pages, including both main paper and supplement as one pdf

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Cited by in corpus (4)

• Moderate D/H Ratios in Methane Ice on Eris and Makemake as Evidence of Hydrothermal or Metamorphic Processes in Their Interiors: Geochemical Analysis
• N${}_2$ accretion, metamorphism of organic nitrogen, or both processes likely contributed to the origin of Pluto's N${}_2$
• The Equilibrium Vapor Pressures of Ammonia and Oxygen Ices at Outer Solar System Temperatures
• Pluto Geologic Map: Use of Crater Data to Understand Age Relationships